Ten Ton Hammer: We had been told rumors you guys weren't allowed to leave your cube except for bathroom breaks so all that makes sense. You've been identified as one of the more vocal GM's to the point you are defended in chat channels by players. What motivates you to interact with the player base so much?

If I Break it? Rofl Can Fix it!

Rofl: First of all my superiors let me interact which is great. I guess it comes from the old UO days when we would interact in-game. Though I cant show up in a Flamestrike or anything like the old days (maybe Ill get a roflcopter to swoop in on eventually). I still show up visible if needed. I just really enjoy helping and talking with the players in-game. Its much more satisfying than sending a standard response via some e-mail system. Keep in mind that you will still get the occasional standard response if its something that will help resolve your issue. That will never go away and definitely read through them. A lot of people will instantly write back screaming bloody murder because we sent a canned response, but if it resolves the issue then whats the problem?!

Ten Ton Hammer: Canned responses can frustrate people and do feel a little impersonal for some, but it seems strange people even read beyond the "It's fixed." Does working as a GM affect how you play Tabula Rasa in any way? Do you see things from another perspective?

Rofl: It definitely leaves no surprises. The same thing happened with UO and every other game Ive worked on. After a while of GMing you have pretty much seen every map, dealt with many missions, seen the bosses, so you are left with no surprises or that cool feeling of exploring a new area or encountering a new enemy. So if you are big on not being spoiled in your favorite game then dont work for the company that makes it!

Ten Ton Hammer: That would kind of spoil things a little but it comes with the territory. Probably gives you a little bit of an edge too for instance never getting lost. What kind of power does a GM have? What exactly should players expect them to be to fix? (i.e. unstick players, fix missions, etc...)

Rofl: As stated in General several times I am > Chuck Norris. So you can only imagine the powers I have. In TR you should expect any issue to be fixed that we are able to fix. Sometimes we have to escalate things to the dev team if we have not discovered a work-around or its an issue that might require a patch or further investigation.

Ten Ton Hammer: Fortunately Chuck Norris's power seems to finally be waning. On a less serious note, one of the Community Managers here at Ten Ton Hammer, Taea, would like to know if you are REALLY touching your nose when you say you are.

Rofl: Not really. I recommend that certain people avoid touching the nose in excess as the oils (and cheeto dust) on the fingers may cause a break-out. And nobody wants that.

Ten Ton Hammer: Sound advice especially for Cheeto eaters. What do you like to do in your free time when you aren't saving the Tabula Rasa world? What about Operation Ivy?

Rofl: In my free time Im usually out saving the real world. So usually Ill go downtown with my friends to go see a show or whatever. Austin has a lot of fun stuff you can do (SXSW). When not out of the house Ill play a lot of single-player games and sometimes I will leave lolcat pictures on friends myspace comments or post a silly bulletin. Im also really big into photography and I just started doing that as a side job instead of just another hobby. Ive also made a few short films but Ive since decided it takes too long, requires too many other people, and costs too much money but maybe Ill do it again if I have the patience. Operation Ivy was my favorite band when I was 17 so I got a tattoo of the bands logo above my left ankle, not my favorite now but I still <3 them.

We want to once again thank GM Rofl and the Tabula Rasa community team for allowing us this opportunity to look at the life of a NCsoft customer service representative. Comments or suggestions? Drop me an email. Also be sure to stop by our forums to discuss this further.

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